Smart Home Tech Thread

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

I bought a Nest thermostat a few months ago and it's been pretty kick ass.

So over the last few days I've started to replace bulbs in my house with smart lights (color bulbs for game room and pool table room, dimmable white lights for my bedroom) and I've started to add echos across the house to control everything.

I have some LED light strips that I am going to try and put behind my t.v. tonight to see if I can synch the lights to movies.

Anyone else delving into the world of letting the FBI into your house?

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Nice. Get some purple shag carpet and you'll be leaving broads at the door.

Been thinking about one of those thermostats for a while, but thought it might be more a novelty than anything. No need to adjust temperature for times of the day, as I work out of the home and the thermostat is right across form my office.

However, we do not yet have a security system...so am interested in opinions on that. Been mildly looking at Simplisafe. Xfinity (cable tv) offers options as well, but I'm probably cutting the cord in a year when my 2 yr contract is up (we built a house and moved in a year ago December).

The light thing is appealing too, as we have a ton of canned lights throughout. Tried to put some of the new LEDs in there but the place literally looks like a gyno office (stole that from my wife). Seriously has a doctor office vibe to the light tone. So using the old school flood lights now, which gives a warn yellowish tone. Saw those bulbs at Home Depot though (think its Phillips that makes em) - aren't they around $60 each?

 

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

@ChicagoCavFan I haven't looked into security because I'm still locked in with ADT for another year.

I hate normal LED lights because of stark whiteness but with the hues you can set it to different shades of white, I just have the normal hues in my bedroom so they're cheaper.

The colored ones are 50 bucks a pop though, but they supposedly last 15 years so it's whatever. Now that I have my light strip set up behind the TV (also made by Phillips, sorry for sounding like a shill) it's cool to see all the different moods and color combinations I can set up. Going to try and synch it this weekend to movies.

If there is anything I would recommend it is the Nest. Super easy to install. Not to mention automatically learning your patterns so you don't have to set it is also great for someone like me that's forgetful. It can also recommend temperatures to save you the most energy and money after it sees your usual energy use, which has been helpful.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Was the light strip you installed regular power, or did you have to install a transformer? I'm looking at under cabinet options, and don't really want to see a cord down to one of the plus on the backsplash. Talked to an electrician that said the custom LED lighting under cabinets can get crazy expensive....so I shelved it until I found a reasonable solution (as under cabinet lighting is not a necessity)....

 

[Ob1]

I'm interested in a smart home but dont know where to start.

I will definitely get a nest and LED lights, but my buddy was telling me that he has all his locks and stuff synced to his phone. Seemed cool.

 

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

Was the light strip you installed regular power, or did you have to install a transformer? I'm looking at under cabinet options, and don't really want to see a cord down to one of the plus on the backsplash. Talked to an electrician that said the custom LED lighting under cabinets can get crazy expensive....so I shelved it until I found a reasonable solution (as under cabinet lighting is not a necessity)....

Light strip plugs in, uses a pretty small white cord overall though for power so it's not too conspicuous. For the 80 inch light strip and power cord it's 90 bucks, then (for mine) you can add 40 inch extensions for 30 bucks.

 

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

I'm interested in a smart home but dont know where to start.

I will definitely get a nest and LED lights, but my buddy was telling me that he has all his locks and stuff synced to his phone. Seemed cool.

It just depends what you want to do. I wanted a Nest just for the control and to defeat my bad habit of forgetting to change the temperature on my thermostat.

Now that I'm pretty comfortable with it I wanted to start getting crazy with my house since I'm a single guy with a dog and I like to entertain now and then.

Haven't gotten the locks but I can tell you everything I've gotten has seamlessly integrated with each other (Amazon Echo, Phillips Hues, and some generic smart switches from Best Buy to turn my neon signs on and off).

Most of my time went into linking all the devices together and naming the lights so I can turn them off individually and creating groups so i can turn them on together. Not hard, just time consuming.

Also a lot of time went into making a naming system that actually made sense consistently room to room....

 

[Stark]

@ChicagoCavFan I haven't looked into security because I'm still locked in with ADT for another year.

I hate normal LED lights because of stark whiteness but with the hues you can set it to different shades of white, I just have the normal hues in my bedroom so they're cheaper.

The colored ones are 50 bucks a pop though, but they supposedly last 15 years so it's whatever. Now that I have my light strip set up behind the TV (also made by Phillips, sorry for sounding like a shill) it's cool to see all the different moods and color combinations I can set up. Going to try and synch it this weekend to movies.

If there is anything I would recommend it is the Nest. Super easy to install. Not to mention automatically learning your patterns so you don't have to set it is also great for someone like me that's forgetful. It can also recommend temperatures to save you the most energy and money after it sees your usual energy use, which has been helpful.

You called?

 

[FiveThous]

The Internet of Things scares the shit out of me

 

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

You called?

Not yet, I still haven't figured out how to play The Rains of Castamere on all of my devices throughout the house at the same time.

 

[RuanuLaw]

So far, all of this seems like a novelty, at least personally for me.

Nest...sexy, but not necessary.

Programmable lights...overkill.

Alexa/Echo...Why use it when you have a smart phone on you 99% of the time. (Siri does not understand me a bunch of the times I have used it, so I just stopped).


I love tech, and I wish someone could talk me into this stuff, but I just don't see any of this stuff coming close to seeming useful.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Anybody use the new doorbell - phone thing called Ring? I think it was on Shark Tank, and has blown up. First, the doorbell in my house sucks and can't be heard upstairs - so I need a solution. Any other tech I should consider for this purpose?

 

[el_capitan]

Anybody use the new doorbell - phone thing called Ring? I think it was on Shark Tank, and has blown up. First, the doorbell in my house sucks and can't be heard upstairs - so I need a solution. Any other tech I should consider for this purpose?

Nest is coming out with a doorbell as well, so depending on whether you plan on getting other Nest or Ring products or already have some, that could be an option so you can keep them all on one app. Nest has a thermostat, smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, indoor and outdoor security cameras, and the upcoming doorbell. Ring currently has a few doorbell types, and an outdoor camera that is standalone, or can come with flood lights.

 

[Kyrieville]

I have an echo and dots all over the house. I've had a WiFi thermostat for years (Honeywell) that works with Alexa. I love it. There have been times where I wake up in the middle of the night and it's too hot/cold and I just tell Alexa to change the temperature (or if I'm sitting on the couch watching the Cavs and don't feel like getting up to change it).

I also have wifi LED bulbs all over the house. Again, super convenient to tell Alexa to turn the lights off. Alexa is vastly superior to Siri, and why click around on an app for 10 seconds when you can just tell Alexa to turn it off/on or to adjust the brightness of each light? The only time I use the Hue app is when my wife/kid are sleeping and I don't want to wake them up.

Also, we went to Cleveland a few weeks ago and stayed out a little later than we planned to and did not leave a light on for the dogs. No problem, I just turned them on from my phone.

My Yahama home stereo even has Alexa control, I need to play around with it a little and utilize it.

I want a smart garage door opener now. I've left the garage door open on several occasions overnight.

I bought Hue motion sensors that you can program specific bulbs to, I haven't set those up yet though, but plan to soon.

 

[TheISHT]

I have a few echo dots that control some wifi outlets. I could say "Alexa, Christmas Lights on" on and everywhere I had the wifi outlets could turn/off really quick. It was convenient. I also bought a few LIFX wifi bulbs that don't require a hub. I have my our bedroom lamps in a group where I can say, "Turn on Bedroom Lights 26%" or I can say "Turn on Mike's light" and it will only do mine. The dimming factor is nice, the color is really a novelty.

While echo dots don't have the best speakers they are sufficient. I can either play music to one, or I can say "Play Tupac Everywhere" then my 4 year old can get down to some Hail Mary in any room in the house. I could also pair the echo with bluetooth speakers that are better, but don't really feel compelled too.